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Avalanche Forecast

Archived

Apr 20th, 2022–Apr 21st, 2022

Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Alpine
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.
Below Treeline
Natural avalanches unlikely.

Regions

Northwest Inland.

Another sunny and warm day might sustain wet loose avalanche potential on solar aspects. The likelihood for this to be limited to small releases on isolated slopes in extreme terrain keeps danger low.

Thinking of bigger objectives? Check out the latest Forecasters' Blog.

Confidence

High -

Weather Forecast

WEDNESDAY NIGHT: Mainly clear. Light southeast winds.

THURSDAY: Mainly sunny. Light southeast winds shifting southwest. Treeline high temperatures around -1 to 0.

FRIDAY: A mix of sun and cloud. Light southwest winds. Treeline high temperatures around -1.

SATURDAY: Mainly cloudy with scattered flurries and up to 5 cm of new snow. Moderate to strong southeast winds, increasing over the day. Treeline high temperatures around -3.

Avalanche Summary

One recent cornice fall that did manage to trigger a slab was reported from a flight over the Telkwa range on Friday. On Saturday a few small loose dry avalanches were observed in steep, solar, rocky terrain. Otherwise, no new avalanches have been reported in the past few days.

On Thursday, explosives triggered wind slabs up to size 2 on south-south east aspects. On Wednesday, glacial icefall (serac) triggered a large persistent slab avalanche (size 3). This avalanche occurred on a northeast aspect in the alpine and is suspected to have failed on a crust from early April. This avalanche was only possible with an extremely large load and is not suggestive of general conditions in the region as a whole.

Looking forward to Thursday, another sunny day with a slight rise in freezing levels may sustain some potential for small wet loose reactivity.

Snowpack Summary

Generally light new snow amounts, trending up to about 20 cm in the Howsons, have landed on heavily wind-affected surfaces in exposed terrain, the product of an intense wind event early last week. In sheltered areas, the flurries may have added to limited stashes of soft, potentially faceted snow. After warming and a subsequent freeze on Wednesday, it will add to the growing tally of crusts on solar aspects. A more widespread melt-freeze crust can be found 20 to 50 cm deep in most areas, and up to 80 cm in the snowiest parts of the region. This crust is near the surface below 1200 m.

Terrain and Travel

  • Pay attention to cornices and give them a wide berth when traveling on or below ridges.
  • Watch for unstable snow on specific terrain features, especially when the snow is moist or wet.
  • Watch for wind-loaded pockets especially around ridgecrest and in extreme terrain.

Problems

Cornices

Cornice Fall is the release of an overhanging mass of snow that forms as the wind moves snow over a sharp terrain feature, such as a ridge, and deposits snow on the downwind (leeward) side. Cornices range in size from small wind drifts of soft snow to large overhangs of hard snow that are 30 feet (10 meters) or taller. They can break off the terrain suddenly and pull back onto the ridge top and catch people by surprise even on the flat ground above the slope. Even small cornices can have enough mass to be destructive and deadly. Cornice Fall can entrain loose surface snow or trigger slab avalanches.

Loose Wet

Loose Wet avalanches are the release of wet unconsolidated snow or slush. These avalanches typically occur within layers of wet snow near the surface of the snowpack, but they may quickly gouge into lower snowpack layers. Like Loose Dry Avalanches, they start at a point and entrain snow as they move downhill, forming a fan-shaped avalanche. Other names for loose-wet avalanches include point-release avalanches or sluffs. Loose Wet avalanches can trigger slab avalanches that break into deeper snow layers.